The most unbelievable thing happened today. My dad shows up at my job today and announces that he wants to give me something. He goes into the back of his car and comes back with this vintage Gibson archtop.

Apparently it's been sitting in a closet for the last 30 years and the owner just gave it to my dad so that my dad could give it to me. This is now my guitar! How awesome is that?

The neck has been shaved, the pick guard is missing and the tuners will need to be replaced. Who cares!

The only 'problem' is that I can't tell what year or model it is. I'm not interested in selling, but I would like to know what I have.
There are no markings inside the guitar, and the only writing (other than the Gibson logo) is "Patented July 19, 1910" stamped on the tail piece.

Ze Dano - dont replace the tuners..get some powdered teflon if they are sticking

not much you can do about the shaved down neck...

I'd keep it all original and channel the ghost of Robert Johnson with that thang!!

Unfortunately, the tuners had to be replaced. I took it to a well respected luthier, and he gave me the same opinion as McCabes (a well-known acoustic shop near me). The replacements fit in the existing holes without any modifications.

Hillbilly - Looks like an L-48.. L-50`s usually have block fret markers..

Actually, dot fret markers were used on L-50s until 1946. (You can see some photos and specs if you scroll down here: http://home.provide.net/~cfh/gibson2.html )

I emailed Gibson, and they think it's a '36-'42 L-50. I researched a bunch, and everything points to being a '36-'39 L-50 (The tailpiece was used from '36-'42. According to a vintage guitar book I read, Gibson changed from the logo on my guitar to a slightly different logo "in the late '30s").

Regardless, it's fun to play. The only bummer (and it's a minor bummer, really) is that the width of the neck was shaved down when a previous owner re-shaped it. You have to be careful that the "E" strings don't slip off the edge when you fret them.

On my guitar someone re-shaped the neck, it has a crack (which I had repaired so it does not spread), the old tuners were shot and it shows a bit of its age. So, just a guess, it's probably worth something less than $1,500.

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